Sapphira

The North was home to Sapphira, a young woman changing from child to adult.

Sapphira, eyes as blue as crisp, cool water glistening in the sun, and golden yellow hair like freshly-harvested wheat. She loved everything about the north. Her family were all herbalists. They firmly believed that the medicine of the land could cure any disease sown by man. Sapphira’s father would not let her use the knowledge she had obtained through the years until her 16th year.

Her 16th year had begun with death. Sapphira watched her family all die as she hid in the trees. Her father came running back to their den with grave news; war had come to their home. As he spoke, screams began to rain down on the villages. Her father’s eyes grew large, and blood spilled from his lips as he told Sapphira and her mother to run. Sapphira knew that he was gone, stabbed in the back by the soldiers. On the run, Sapphira’s mother was so devastated that she could barely walk, let alone run. She was captured, and with two quick strikes, her head was separated from her body. Sapphira had found safety in the forest and stopped for a quick rest, only to turn around and watch her mother brutally
murdered. After witnessing these horrors, Sapphira decided to venture South to Aldoria in search of the ships rumored to be leaving the doomed Faedrun, and managed to make it to one of the last ships bound for Mardrun.

But leaving Faedrun did not ease the memory of her parents’ murder. Sapphira wandered Mardrun, looking for a way to stop that night from haunting her for the rest of her days. She came across many villages and outposts throughout her travels. She has made peace with the patrons of many villages and outposts by offering her skills with herbs – even those foreign ones found in this new land – treating many ailments and healing many wounds. In all her wandering, she has yet to find a place to call home. She doesn’t know that she ever will. She has survived on the land, learning
more of her trade. Although pure of heart, she is one you would not want to cross, as she knows the secrets of the plants; while some may heal, others can bring the most agonizing of deaths. She fights for her own survival and will do anything to preserve her families’ lasting memory.

After years of walking the land, Sapphira found another lone wanderer on the road: Faolan. He saved her from a small group of bandits that were harassing her just outside of a village. She was grateful, and after some time spent traveling together, she found him to be intriguing, to say the least – a man of many hardships and sorrow, knowledgeable and persistent in his desire to learn about her. He seemed to have his own silent agenda hovering over him, though. She was growing very fond of him. After much deliberation with herself and her plants, she decided to invite him along as a companion in her journey to find someplace to rest her laurels. It was agreed that they would not stay in any place for too long, unless it suited their needs. Sapphira now has a protector, but she will keep her covert ways about her. Faolan and Sapphira have been together for years now, living on the road and pathways of Mardrun, each searching for their own peace.